L'Assiette

French cuisine again. I wasn't exactly thinking, "I want french food for lunch!" But I had been wanting to go to L'Assiette for about the past month or so and getting there had never really subsided until this week. I initially wanted to go because of the fact that they sold Ma Cherie Macarons, and I wanted to try a couple of 'em to see what the fuss was about. I did try a couple of Ma Cherie Macarons ....but not from L'Assiette. So my next reason was led from Foodspotting. (Verdict: Wow, macarons are really sweet). Someone had uploaded a photo of a dish from L'Assiette which looked pretty good to me. The old saying goes... that you eat with your eyes. Which is pretty true for me. The comments from the uploader were pretty positive, so that gave me further motivation to go.

L'Assiette

9 Britomart Place, Britomart (Ground Floor of the Atrium on Takutai)

The weather gods finally decided to be nice two Mondays ago, so I took advantage of the "good" weather (hey, it was still pretty cold-issssh) and embarked on a leisurely stroll from university to Britomart. I don't visit the Britomart area often, but it's pretty amazing to see how developed the area has become in the past six months or so. The Britomart Precinct has been under development – and still is as it has been estimated that it will be complete by 2015 – with the majority of the new restaurants/cafes/bars having been opened within the past six to eight months. More will probably open in the future.

I have to say that I love the french accent. The accent sounds so pretty. Everytime I hear a french girl/guy speak, I'm pretty much "awww-ing" or" ooooooh-ing". Just awesome. I'm going to treasure those three days I'll have in September. Strangely enough, my mother is trying to learn how to speak some basic french via the internet. It is almost killing me. But I digress. I was greeted by a French waitress – "Bonjour!" (aw) – and I was instantly sold. L'Assiette offers modern french cuisine, predominantly with a breakfast and lunch menu, but have recently extended their hours on Wednesday to Friday by offering dinner service in the afternoon.

Every now and then, I tend to quit drinking coffee for a period of time. Sometimes it's two weeks. Sometimes it's two months. The latest period lasted approximately eight to ten months. My reasons for abstaining from coffee varies by the day. I tend to start drinking again when the weather turns to shit though. Ahem. So yep, you guessed it! I'm back to drinking coffee again (the photo obviously gives it away). I find it hard to find a good coffee in town since a lot of the coffee out there tastes slightly burnt (thanks B3 for imparting your coffee knowledge onto me by the way, haha). You can sometimes tell by the colour too. I was expecting good things from L'Assiette.

But my flat white ($4) was rather mediocre. I did like the nice touch of the Hersheys Kisses chocolate on the spoon though. I initially thought it was a bad flat white since it tasted rather burnt and bitter to me. Yet strangely enough it actually tasted better as I was reaching the bottom, so it went from being crap to mediocre. I think I was a bit guilty of not stirring my one sugar in my properly, but it still did taste a wee bit burnt. I was talking with a friend of mine today at lunch about a good cup of coffee, and we both agreed that we prefer it when the barista adds in the sugar before any coffee is poured in the cup, as opposed to after. Is that too nitpicky? Maybe so. But if I'm going to pay $4 for a cup of coffee, it better be goddamn good!

For my meal, I ordered Lamb Kidneys and Mushrooms on Toast with a Port Jus ($15.50). This is the dish that I saw on Foodspotting. Seems like a strange dish to have for lunch. I'm not even a huge fan of offal to be honest. But I'm glad I tried it. I wanted more of the port jus on the plate, as the jus was rich and delicious. The kidneys were perfectly cooked (pink in the middle) and earthy, which was a surprise because it is pretty easy to stuff up kidneys. Overcooked kidneys can be chewy and tough and ugggggh. I probably don't have to let you know how awesome the mushrooms were since you guys know I love mushrooms. I really liked the crust of the bread that they used too, with the toasty bread attributing a nice contrast in texture.

Back to the kidneys. There were a lot of them on the plate. Generous. The photo doesn't really depict its generosity. While that could be considered a good thing, I find that there were too many for a lunch dish. But then again, I can only really eat offal in small doses/portions, so it's all to do with personal preference. Another small nitpick is the use of rosemary sprig as a garnish. I know it's quite common, but I personally hate it. It's rather striking on the plate though.

While my coffee came in no time, the arrival of my kidneys was a tad slower than I had anticipated. Considering that it wasn't exactly busy when I came in to eat, I was surprised that the kitchen was sort of slow. Staff were friendly and attentive. The decor was nice and simple... the way it should be really.

Overall: L'Assiette has got lovely charm with its simplicity. While the staff were lovely, my food could have been served a bit more quickly, especially when it wasn't particularly peak-lunch time when I dined in. Coffee – average at best. Interesting menu. Another visit will hopefully be on the cards to try one of the crepes on the menu. Pretty standard prices for the city (aka not cheap), but my portion of lamb kidneys was plentiful for $15.50.

Next blog: Went to The French Cafe on Saturday. Degustation. Winning! So obviously that will be my next post. After that post, the next one will be on Shaky Isles Britomart.

Random: I went to Munchy Mart (dairy on campus) the other day and spent a total of $2.40. I handed over $5.40 to the checkout girl so I could get $3.00 change. Trying to get rid of my small coins obviously. Anyway, she gives me $2.60 change the first time. I tell her, "Um, I gave you $5.40....." (insert awkward pause for the checkout girl here). "Oh," she replied. Checkout Girl has to think about it for a moment about how much change she's supposed to give to me. I return the coins she initially gave me, and she gives me $4.00 in response. D'oh. "Um. You mean $3.00, right?" She returns a blank look. "Oh. Yes." Checkout Guy sniggers. She tells him to shut up. She hands over my correct change on the third attempt. Checkout Girl looks like she's my age, so she really has no excuse for her poor subtraction. I couldn't help but chuckle afterwards. That's probably mean, but don't lie. You would too.